GET WICKED! Entangled Publishing Blog Hop

I don't know about you but Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. It's probably because I write paranormal stories, everything from demons to grim reapers. LOVE IT! As a paranormal author one of the fun things I get to do is go to reader conventions, which means dressing up as the very people or creatures I write about. So I thought, Boone, why not combine two of your favorite things, kickass costumes and hot guys? I mean, right? Who doesn't love hot men dressed up as our fantasy heroes. Put your hand down if you raised it because you know you're lying.

So here are a few luscious fantasy men to enjoy on this stop of Entangled Publishing's Get Wicked Blog Hop!

 

Well, everything about this costume is Super, if you ask me.

Did somebody mention bagpipes?

One stiff breeze and we'll all be enjoying this costume a little more.

 

Oh yes, I think these two are here to take me to Heaven...together...at the same time! I'd die a happy woman.

 

 
 

Can you ever go wrong with a fireman?

Or a pirate? I think not.

 



.

And I'm pretty sure if you look like this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or this, you don't need a costume. Come as you are.

 

Be sure to comment below to be entered to win my fun paranormal prize pack of a tote bag, book swag, and tons of other goodies. Moans, groans, drooling, and pants will be counted as a comment. And I will ship internationally or US, so there's no reason not to play. inners will be notified after the conclusion of the blog hop. And don't forget to hit all the stops over the next two days for your chance to win more prizes and have a lot of fun.

For an extra opportunity to win, sign up for my newsletter and never miss out on a single exciting moment of fun or release information. http://eepurl.com/zJVXb

 

 

Be sure to hit the other sites on Entangled Publishing's Wicked Blog Hop for more fun and prizes.

Blog Hop List

Spell Bound in Sleepy Hollow                                                                      Tall, Dark, and Deadly

 
 
 

Suddenly Beautiful

Thanks for stopping by and have a Hellacious Halloween!

 

 

Boone Brux

It's Fluffy Friday Lazy Cooks - CJ's Pot Roast

Welcome to Fluffy Friday and another fabulous recipe from CJ Ellisson.

Today’s installment will be referred to in the history annals as “C.J. Used to Hate Pot Roast”.

Perhaps it’s my Jewish background of overcooked meats served by my depression-area grandmother… or eating at friend’s houses and smiling through the dry, stringy meats, I don’t know. But, I can tell you the grayish colored over-cooked meats have never been my favorite. Don’t even get me started on the salt-tastic dish of cornbeef *shudder*.

All of this changed when I discovered the most magical thing stored in a glass jar: Bubbie Jeanne’s Brisket Magic. It truly is maigic and it’s gluten free—that’s what sold me on trying it. Don’t ask me exactly what cut of meat a brisket is, I have no freakin’ idea. I went to the store and bought a cut that said it was good for a pot roast.

Directions:

Brown pot roast on the stove on all sides (trim off extra fat)

Place in slow cocker with jar of sauce, add a cup of water

Cook on low for six hours or so, high for 4 1/2. (this is gauged by the weight of your roast, so read the package)

If you are home at the ¾ point of cooking, toss in some potatoes and carrots. If not, get some Bob Evans mashed potatoes from the supermarket and some fresh veggies on the side.

This stuff is like magic! You could put that sauce on any vegetable and my kids will eat it. Not the over-cooked, mushy veggies of our family’s past, but tender ones that still have some vitamins left in them.

This was such a hit I sent my husband back to the store weeks later to buy more. Since he is the crappiest searcher in the world, he couldn’t find it and I almost cried. I forgot to write the name down and I was in a panic.

Thankfully, when I went back immediately, the burly man stocking shelves understood what I was looking for and said it was an “in and out” product, meaning they would never carry it again. He led me to the remaining five jars, which I quickly bought every one (screw you, my lazy neighbors! You missed out! Bahahaha….).

But in honor of this segment today (and to make sure I can find it again), I did some research. Here is the website for Bubbie Jeannes, and here are the stores you can buy it at if you are lucky enough to live in the Mid-Atlantic region (if not try the website. I plan to order from them direct or Wholefoods because these stores are all too far away from me):

BRADLEY FOOD & BEVERAGE


6904 ARLINGTON ROAD
BETHESDA, MD 20814


http://bradleyfood.com/



BROAD BRANCH MARKET


5608 BROAD BRANCH ROAD NW
WASHINGTON DC


http://www.broadbranchmarket.com/



BUTHER'S BLOCK


302 HARRY S. TRUMAN PARKWAY
ANNAPOLIS, MD 21401


http://www.thebutchersblock.net/



CHEVY CHASE SUPERMARKET


8531 CONNECTICUT AVENUE
CHEVY CHASE, MD 20815
301-656-5133


http://www.chevychasesupermarket.com/



DAVID'S NATURAL MARKET


5430 LYNX LANE
COLUMBIA, MD

 
WWW.DAVIDSNATURALMARKET.COM'S 



EDDIE'S OF ROLAND PARK


5113 ROLAND AVENUE
BALTIMORE, MD 21210


6213 NORTH CHARLES STREET
BALTIMORE, MD 21212
http://www.eddiesofrolandpark.com/



GOURMET AGAIN


3713 Old Court Road
Pikesville, MD 21208-3902
(410) 484-9393


http://gourmetagain.com/



GRAUL'S MARKET


12200 Tullamore Road
Lutherville, MD 21093


http://graulsmarket.com/default.aspx



GRAUL'S MARKET


7713 Bellona Avenue 
Towson, MD 21204


http://graulsmarket.com/default.aspx



GRAUL'S MARKET


1388 Cape St. Claire Road
Annapolis, MD 21409


http://graulsmarket.com/default.aspx



GROSVENOR MARKET


10401 Grosvenor Pl # 2
Rockville, MD 20852-4646
(301) 493-6217


http://www.grosvenormarket.com/



ROOTS MARKET


5805 Clarksville Square Drive
 Clarksville, MD 21029




WHOLE FOODS MARKETS  
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/


I sincerely hope you enjoy it! Please comment if you’ve tried this product or if you have based on this post and what you thought of it.

Toodles!

Be Immortalized ~ Name A Character In My Next Book

Be part of my next book, Kiss of the Betrayer, by entering the Name the Character Contest.

Rules: Read the character description and come up with a clever name. You can submit just a first name, just a last name, or both.


How to Enter: You may enter five ways.

1. Email your name choice to boonebrux@gmail.com. Put Name Contest in the subject line.
2. Tweet me at www.twitter.com/boonebrux
3. Go to my Facebook Author Page at www.facebook.com/BooneBrux/Author
   At the left side of the page, click on the Contact Boone button and put your answer in the Message section. 
4. On my website, www.boonebrux.com you can enter by sending me a message from my Contact Boone page. 
5. Last, but not least, you may enter from my blog, www.boonebrux.blogspot.com
   Just click on Contact Me at the upper right corner of the sidebar and send me your entry.

Easy squeezy!


How will the name be chosen?

1. Every entry will be considered and chosen through a process of elimination by myself and other Entangled Publishing editors, including Heather Howland, Libby Murphy, and Kerry Vail. 
2. In case of a tie, the winner will be randomly drawn.

What will I win?

• The character in Kiss of the Betrayer will be given your contest entry name and you will receive a glowing acknowledgment in the book, praising your brilliance and creativity. 
• Your contribution will be heralded throughout the land on several blogs, including my personal blog, website, Facebook and the Entangled Publishing blog.
• You will receive a signed copy of Shield of Fire and Kiss of the Betrayer when released. 
• $50 gift card to Amazon

So let your creativity flow and name this character.

• Female, approximately 29 years of age
• Sturdy and curvaceous, medium height, long brown hair and hazel eyes
• Profession: Prostitute, works the docks.
• Private Life: Poor, Single mother with three children, 12, 4, and five months.
• Redeeming Qualities: Strong, resourceful, has a good heart, would rather sell her body than accept charity, a good mother, fearless, smart, streetwise, rolls with the punches.
• Less Redeeming Qualities: Stubborn, too curious for her own good, has associations with a lot of unsavory people. 
• Significance in the book: This character is slated to become a major secondary character, appearing throughout the rest of the series.

Okay people, name that character. I've received some great entries so far. This is going to be a tough one to judge!

HAPPY WEAR PJs TO A BUFFET DAY!

It’s national Wear Your Pajamas to a Buffet Day. Okay, it’s not a national holiday, but it should be. Most traditions seem to revolve around Thanksgiving and Christmas, while the rest of the year is sadly lacking. Why not create a new tradition designed specifically for you and your loved ones?

Once a year, the Brux family chooses a Sunday for our annual wear our pajamas to the Golden Corral Buffet. The kids look forward to this event, talk about it all year, and get really upset if PJ and Breakfast has to be rescheduled.

Let me stress that there are rules to participating.

1. You must wear pajamas or something that resembles loungewear. When the snow is deep we wear boots, but usually slippers are mandatory.
2. You can’t comb your hair, remove mascara raccoon eyes, or even brush your teeth. Nuff said.
3. You may accessorize with a robe, stuffed animal, blanket, etc.
4. Anybody can play as long as they wear pajamas.
5. You must be there when the buffet opens, even if this means waiting in the parking lot. More on this later.
6. When it comes to food—anything goes.

We’ve noticed a pattern with the buffet patrons. They arrive in two morning shifts. The first wave is the nonchalant diner. These people come for the food and are there at opening time. This is the wave you want to be in. Most eaters wear sweats, t-shirts, hoodies, and yes, even slippers. For the most part we blend in. Plus, this crowd is focused on eating. I could wear a plastic wrap dress with big red clown shoes and get no more than a cursory glance. As long as I’m not blocking the omelet bar, we’re cool.

Next comes the churchin’ crowd. Make sure you’re headed home by this time. Nice dresses, freshly applied makeup, hair all coiffured. Don’t subject yourself to the judgmental looks; just finish your M &M peanut butter brownie surprise with sprinkles and get the hell out of there.



Tainted doughnut, been touched by gravy!!!





Bowl-O-Gummy-Bears



Which brings us to rule six. This is what makes my kids giddy and ratchets our parental status to stellar. It’s the one day I don’t harp about gorging themselves on sugar. Let me share a few photos of what happens when you let kids run wild at The Golden Corral Buffet.

Cheez Whiz Fries



Marshmallow on a stick dipped in chocolate



Stick dipped in chocolate



Let the games begin



To be honest, buffets are lost on me. I only eat one plateful and rarely get dessert. I stare in wonder as my kids and husband create a revolving door effect at our table, going back again and again for food. Sure, they may only return with one or two delicacies, but it adds up after the seventh trip. And it’s weird stuff, Jell-O  and a hunk of ham, scrambled eggs and a bowl of gummy bears from the dessert bar, fried chicken and a glazed doughnut. Yeah, fried chicken at the breakfast bar, go figure.

Each year we’ve done this, we’ve gotten the same waiter. I’ll call him Paulo since I doubt he’d want to be immortalized in this blog. He’s awesome, timely with the coffee, always smiling, and clearing the plates as quickly as the chowhounds can pile them up. Paulo always gets a nice tip.

At the end of our feed, on the way home, we all smile, thank the makers of elastic waistband and cheer another successful Pajama to the Buffet Day.

I’d love to hear about any non-traditional traditions you have. Really.

Fluffy Friday Lazy Cooks

Boone: Welcome back to Fluffy Friday. Thanks for joining CJ and I for a spectacular new feature we plan on doing together: Lazy Cooks.

CJ: Yup, you read that right. We might invite other bloggers in to share, too.

Boone: We’ll see, we're kind of lazy.

CJ: I love to eat...

Boone: Dude!

CJ: And I try to eat healthy, most of the time

Boone: Uh, yeah, right. Me, too.

CJ: But with this current writing gig, two kids, a house to manage, a small company to run, and a husband who eats like two men… well, let’s just say their aren’t enough hours in the day.

Boone: OMG, I have a writing gig, two kids, and a husband. No small business but I do have a fish.

CJ: Fish? Those are work. Change the water… feed them… Hey, what happened to the puppies? Hope you didn’t get too hungry and they wound up in a stew pot! Just kidding folks, we’re not that lazy or hungry.

Boone: Puppy stew. *taps chin in contemplation* Intriging.

CJ: I don’t know about you, but I hate scrambling at the last minute—I often wind up grabbing solid hunks of meat out of the freezer wondering how long it will take to defrost them in the microwave.

Boone: I hear ya. I really hate trying to base a whole meal around stale popcorn.

C.J.: LOL! Sounds like a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special ;-)

Okay, the next time you’re feeling lazy, try this one on for size, it’s my latest Lazy Cooker discovery, and I think I’ll be making it again real soon:

Pork a la Marinara

Ingredients:

Two defrosted Tenderloins (because they were frozen together)

1 jar of good marinara sauce (not Prego or some other crap, spend two bucks more if you can afford it and buy a fancy jar)

Directions:

Place pork in slow cooker, add marinara sauce to it and about ½ to one cup or so of water.

Cook on low for six hours or so, until meat is done.

** Note, to set this up when you are out of the house, try getting a timer for your slow cooker if it doesn’t have one installed. No, the meat will not go bad sitting in the cooker for a few hours, relax. Heck, you’re cooking it for a long time, everything will die, it will be safe to eat (unless you are in a tropical climate, but if you are why are you using a slow cooker? Make them eat a salad with meat on it and tell them to shut up or they can cook).

Serving Suggestions: Side veggies and pasta. We had pasta left over so I put some sauce on and heated it up in the microwave. Yes, you can save leftover pasta. Nothing gets thrown out at our house unless it’s gone bad. Toss the leftover patsa will olive oil while it’s still hot and it won’t stick together in a big messy lump in the ziplock bag in the fridge.

Bam! You’re done.

Boone: This sounds so good I'm actually getting up to go dig through my freezer and find a hunk of frozen meat. Thanks for an amazing meal, CJ!!!